A whale is a two-hour boat ride away. The trick is picking the right two hours.
Humpbacks off Maui in February, orcas in a Norwegian fjord in November, pilot whales a mile off Tenerife on any day of the year. Reviews of the boats that take you out, priced, timed and honest about what you will actually see.
Four boats, four oceans, four very different whales.
The trips more travellers come back raving about than any others on the site. One is the price of lunch, one costs more than the flight to reach it.
01Cheapest way outEco-Yacht Whale and Dolphin Watching and SwimmingPilot whales resident year-round a mile off Los Cristianos, from a small eco-yacht that cuts its engines rather than chasing.
02The Atlantic northWhale Watching and Marine Life CruiseMinke, humpback and white-beaked dolphins in Faxafloi Bay, with the Reykjavik skyline still in sight behind you.
03The Alaska dayJuneau Wildlife Whale WatchingHumpbacks bubble-net feeding in Stephens Passage, with sea lions on the marker buoys and eagles overhead.
04The catamaranEcological Catamaran Dolphin Whale WatchingA wide flat deck off Madeira where the sea stays calm and the pilot whales come to the hull.
The hull you book decides how close you get, and how sick you feel.
Same whales, four very different days on the water. A big cruise boat is steady and dry and keeps its distance. A rigid inflatable gets you level with the blowhole and soaks you doing it. Here is what each one costs to board.
Four crossings that only happen for a few weeks a year.
Most of the ocean is empty most of the time. Whales migrate on a schedule that has nothing to do with school holidays, and the boats in the places below simply stop running once the animals have moved on. Check the month before you book the flight.
- 01Whale Watching and Cayo Levantado Full Day TourNorth Atlantic humpbacks breed on the Silver Bank and in the Bay of Samana from mid-January to late March. By April the bay is empty.
- 02Maui Eco-Raft Tour: Eye-Level Whale or Dolphin Watching – LahainaHawaii's humpbacks arrive from Alaska in December and leave by the middle of April. Peak density is February, when boats can barely move without a sighting.
- 03Freedom 3/4 Day Hervey Bay Premium Whale Watching CruiseThe Queensland herd rests in the bay on the southern leg of the migration, roughly late July to the end of October. Nothing runs outside it.
- 04Swimming with Whales in Moorea (Half Day tour)Humpbacks calve in French Polynesian water from August to October, and the in-water permits that let you swim with them are capped and dated.
Six coastlines that put you on the water beside a whale.
Alaska and New England, the Canaries, three Australian states, the Icelandic north, British Columbia and the Baja. Each one has a different animal, a different season and a very different price on the ticket.
The whale trips travellers book more than any others.
Every whale watching review on the site →Sightings are never guaranteed and these operators come closest anyway. What each costs, how long it runs, and what earns it the slot.
1
Eco-Yacht Whale and Dolphin Watching and Swimming
Join Ines and the Travelin Lady crew for a 90-minute whale and dolphin trip from Los Cristianos. The purpose-built eco-yacht keeps animals away from its propellers, cruises without chasing, visits the Cave of Love, and ends with swimming or snorkeling if sea conditions and time allow.
From · $13
Read our review →
2
Los Cristianos Respectful No-Chase Whale and Dolphin Safari
from $29
3
Whale Watching and Marine Life Cruise
from $87
4
Ecological Catamaran Dolphin Whale Watching
from $41
5
Juneau Wildlife Whale Watching
from $177
6
Juneau Wildlife Whale Watching & Mendenhall Glacier
from $249
7
Dolphin and Whale Watching Catamaran Cruise
from $41
8
Whale & Dolphin Eco-Cruise with Snacks & Drinks
from $52
Three American coasts, three completely different whales.
Every trip in the USA →
Alaska has humpbacks working the herring in summer. New England has finbacks and minke on Stellwagen Bank. Hawaii has the same Alaskan humpbacks in winter, and California watches the grey whales file past twice a year. One country, four seasons, four animals.
- 1Juneau Wildlife Whale Watchingfrom $177
- 2Juneau Wildlife Whale Watching & Mendenhall Glacierfrom $249
- 3City Cruises Whale Watching Cruisefrom $85
Alaska: humpbacks and a glacier
Boats run out of Juneau, Hoonah, Sitka and Ketchikan into water so reliably full of humpbacks that most operators guarantee a sighting. Half of them bolt on Mendenhall Glacier and make a day of it.
California: the grey whale commute
Greys pass Monterey and San Diego heading south in January and back north with calves in March and April. Blue and humpback whales feed in the Monterey canyon through the late summer.
Hawaii: the breeding ground
The Auau Channel between Maui and Lanai is shallow, sheltered and full of mothers with new calves from January. Rafts get you low to the water, catamarans keep you dry.
What a morning beside a whale actually costs.
Every reviewed trip on the site, grouped by what the ticket costs. The gap between the cheapest and the dearest is not the whale, it is the fuel, the distance and the licence.
Short harbour runs in the Canaries, Madeira and the Azores, where the animals live a couple of miles offshore.
The standard half day almost everywhere: Iceland, New England, Sydney, Monterey, the Cape.
Alaska, Arctic Norway, the Silver Bank and anything with in-water permits, a float plane or a full day at sea.
Tenerife has whales in January, and in July, and next Tuesday.
A pod of short-finned pilot whales lives permanently in the deep water between Los Cristianos and La Gomera, with bottlenose dolphins on the same stretch. No migration, no season, no empty months. It is the reason this one island carries more reviewed trips than any other place on the site.
Every Tenerife trip →Humpback, orca, grey, pilot: they do not behave the same.
A humpback breaches and slaps and gives you the shot. An orca pod travels in a line and turns the whole boat silent. Grey whales come to the hull in the Baja lagoons and let people touch them. Pilot whales barely move at all. Knowing which animal is in the water where you are going is most of the decision.
- 1All-Inclusive Whale & Orca Safarifrom $186
- 2Humpback Whales in Cabo San Lucasfrom $99
- 3Orcas Island Whale Watchingfrom $119
Three places where the whale comes to you.
Most of the world offers a boat, a horizon and a hopeful hour. These three stretches of water are different enough that people plan whole trips around them.
The bay the whales stop in
Hervey Bay sits behind Fraser Island, which makes it the only sheltered water on the east Australian migration route. Southbound humpbacks with new calves pull in and rest for days, and because they are not travelling they come to idling boats out of what looks a lot like curiosity. Skippers cut the engines and wait; the whales do the approaching.
- 1Freedom 3/4 Day Hervey Bay Premium Whale Watching Cruise★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 919 reviews
- 2Ultimate Whale Watching Experience★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 656 reviews
- 3Hervey Bay 4-Hour Whale Watch Encounter★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 562 reviews
Swimming in Moorea
French Polynesia is one of a handful of places on earth where getting in the water with a humpback is legal, and the rules are tight: licensed guides, small groups, a fixed distance, no touching, permits capped by the month. The animals calve in the lagoon shallows from August, and the water is clear enough to see the whole animal from the surface.
- 1Swimming with Whales in Moorea (Half Day tour)★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 264 reviews
- 2Whale Tour – Observe and swim with whales★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 257 reviews
- 3Whale Watching Tours in Bora Bora★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 250 reviews
Skjalfandi Bay in the light nights
Husavik is a small harbour on a bay fed by glacial rivers, which loads the water with the plankton that draws humpbacks and blue whales in close. Boats sail from April to October, several of them restored oak schooners, and in June and July they go out near midnight because the sun never really sets on it.
- 1Whale Watching Tour with Guide★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 2,761 reviews
- 2Traditional Whale Watching Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 2,115 reviews
- 3Whale Watching – Family Run with Indoor Seats★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 1,521 reviews
Off the deck and into the water beside them.
A boat rail is one relationship with a whale. A mask, a kayak hull or a marine biologist explaining what you just heard on the hydrophone is another. These are the trips that trade a little comfort for a lot more animal.
By ocean and coast
Somewhere on earth it is whale season right now.
Maui
Samana
Monterey
Hervey Bay
MooreaThe newest whale trips on the site.
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Waikiki Eco-Friendly Morning Whale Watching Cruise
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Epic Whale Watching Ocean Kayak Tour & Beach 4X4
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